Serato Software Feature Suggestions

What features would you like to see in Serato software?

Seamlessly Skip forward by 16 + 32 beats

DJThrill 3:02 AM - 15 September, 2011
I think this feature would be useful especially when playing extended House tracks. Once in a while you might underestimate the intro on a track and need to skip forward a little to keep the party rolling. I think this would be a great feature to add to Serato.
allenbina 3:58 PM - 20 September, 2011
auto loop backwards and forwards
Konix 5:42 PM - 20 September, 2011
Quote:
auto loop backwards and forwards


Well, I'd like that too, but I think the original poster wants a "beat jump" like in Traktor.

I'd like to see both.
nic 4:42 PM - 23 September, 2011
Yes i think the beat jump feature would be amazing like traktor. Or the editing feature a bit better so when you put track marks on you can really fine tune them so they keep time perfectly ......
Devilboy4u247 10:01 PM - 23 September, 2011
+1
would be great for cutting out curses in songs too on the fly with a 2 beat skip forward
psalmon 6:04 PM - 27 September, 2011
+1
DJ STU-C 12:23 PM - 28 September, 2011
shouldnt the age old tehnique of knowing your records come into play here?? if you activated beat jump in the wrong place you could wind up halfway through a verse or riff which would sound quite bad, also preparing tracks pre set with cue points in the appropriate place would avoid this problem
psalmon 2:06 AM - 29 September, 2011
sometimes when you're playing stuff on the fly though you don't have all your cue points set up....
Mr Wilks 2:08 PM - 29 September, 2011
+1
BMorgan 10:28 PM - 2 October, 2011
Quote:
sometimes when you're playing stuff on the fly though you don't have all your cue points set up....


I agree with you 100%, so I also would prefer to have the skip feature!
LJ_WOOLSEY 11:11 AM - 18 October, 2011
+1
R-A-C 2:18 PM - 18 October, 2011
Quote:
I think the original poster wants a "beat jump" like in Traktor

+1

what i like best is that thing when in traktor pro you click anywhere in the complete waveform display it jumps there but stays in sync. VERY handy feature
Konix 2:32 PM - 18 October, 2011
Well, that is quantization, not specially beat jump.
R-A-C 6:15 PM - 18 October, 2011
Quote:
Well, that is quantization, not specially beat jump.

well that then :-D
CudaTMC 4:50 AM - 19 October, 2011
Use tractor if you can't beatmatch. Don't ruin Serato by putting in synch.
R-A-C 3:17 PM - 19 October, 2011
Quote:
Use tractor if you can't beatmatch. Don't ruin Serato by putting in synch.

i'm not talking about sync. just read my post above
J.J. 4:25 PM - 19 October, 2011
Top 10 Reasons to add Beat Jump
1. Easily and seamlessly Jump around a song to listen to it. Break down a new track.
2. It's a dream come true for anyone setting Cue points. While paused at the first beat, you can jump 16 or 32 beats forward to create your second Cue point when the chorus/song starts.
3. Need to skip a verse, hit 32 Beat Jump a couple times to seamlessly skip it.
4. Effects: While playing, Skip forward 4 beats, then back 4 beats. Repeat to remix a track.
5. Effects: While playing, Skip backward 1 beat three times, then forward one time (all to the beat of the music). It's like a repeater/echo and it sounds sick.
6. The high pitched sound of holding down forward/backward is loud and annoying and hurts your ears. (I'm not talking about backspins)
7. Need to skip a curse word or phrase? Beat Jump is a real-time SPLICE serato.com
8. Forget to set a loop, no problem. Beat Jump 8/16 bars back and set a loop. Maybe you just need to loop an area 4 times. Instead of setting a loop and exiting, just use Beat Jump backwards until your ready to release.
9. You really hate a song but everyone is requesting it? After the first verse, Beat Jump 32 beats forward a few times to skip to the outro and mix another song.
10. Tell Traktor users: "Yeah, we got that"
Mr Wilks 5:12 PM - 19 October, 2011
This would also require a few more features to be implemented like quantize and beat grids added for non-Bridge users.

Accurate beat grids would have to be set throughout the track too so the software knows exactly where to jump to.

Many tracks have a few beats extra and aren't uniform throughout so quantized cue point jumping (splicing) is really the only painless option i think.
djpeach 11:55 AM - 3 January, 2012
+ 1 for Beat Jumping feature

This would be so useful, especially when trying to perfectly time drops/breakdowns when multiple tracks are playing.

Its unlikely that it would need beat grids, as long as the bpm is accurate.

Serato would simply calculate the time it needs to jump forward/backwards using bpm ( eg a track at 128 bpm skipping 32 beats would skip 15.0 seconds excatly ... (32x60/128)

Whenever i use traktor i love this feature!
Mr Wilks 8:24 PM - 6 January, 2012
Quote:
Serato would simply calculate the time it needs to jump forward/backwards using bpm ( eg a track at 128 bpm skipping 32 beats would skip 15.0 seconds excatly ... (32x60/128)


True but if the breaks aren't consistent then there would have to be markers put into the track to indicate the correct beat/bar and the beat grids contain this information. just a simple activation of them in the software would make it so much easier.

Either way, it would be a fun addition to Scratch Live.
contact@djmario.ro 7:23 AM - 18 January, 2012
Totally agree. This is a must for mashup mixing also.....
amun-re 9:25 PM - 23 February, 2012
+1.. i use VDJ to do that ... i mapped buttons on a 4,99$ bluetooth numpad to skip(x) beats forwards/backwards... very usefull because i get tipsy some times in the club :D
MattyBeeeeeee 8:53 AM - 18 March, 2012
+1 I find it extremely odd that this does not exist, but it does in traktor, vdj, and probably everything else in the world. I use it as a sort of "bump" to extend or shorten a segment based on crowd activity. w00t.
David_E 8:51 PM - 10 May, 2012
+ 1

coming from traktor, this is the thing I miss the most. used it mainly for setting cue points. It saves a lot of time just to set one cue point at the start of the hook/the drop/etc. and just jump backwards in 32 beats steps and set the others. especially when it comes to tracks with silence/pads/no drums... at the beginning.

as a workaround in serato I use 32 beat loops, but the possibility of beat jumps for preparing tracks in a couple of seconds would be great.
Marv Incredible 10:33 AM - 11 May, 2012
Gimme Gimme Gimme.

In fact, I'd like to go one step further with some kind of MIDI or macro recorder which allows me to program which loops and cue points I want to play and in what order. A mini-sequencer for an individual track if you will.
That way, I can program my own 'remixes' of a track and know it will play that way every time I load it up. Awesome.

I'm sure I could use the bridge to achieve the same result, but I want to be able to do it without that.
clickclickw00t 8:34 PM - 13 May, 2012
+1 oh please my buddy was spinning with traktor the other day and showed me this. amazing feature and its needed ASAP
Larsvegas 10:08 PM - 22 May, 2012
+1
R-A-C 10:43 AM - 25 May, 2012
Quote:
+ 1 for Beat Jumping feature
...
Whenever i use traktor i love this feature!

couldn't agree more. and please also for ITCH :-D
Larsvegas 1:48 PM - 25 May, 2012
IMO, Its the last step to perfection...
It would be very nice if someone from the serato staff posts an answer..... (?) :D
Larsvegas 3:26 PM - 25 May, 2012
Since i use ITCH only... i want it for ITCH :D
Kazi28 7:16 PM - 8 June, 2012
+1

really need this badly, playin techno and house and sometimes it happens that the track gets to boring and u want to skip 1-2minutes...
SUBSTANCE 2:08 AM - 4 September, 2012
I'd use this if it was there.
I like the idea of setting cues quickly. I tend to cue intro, verse one, chorus - all of these would be accessible quickly with beat jump.
David_E 5:32 AM - 5 September, 2012
scratch live would be perfect with this feature. right now I'm just using itch and its beatgrids for preparing my files.
DJ P Jay 3:51 PM - 5 September, 2012
+1
Dj Gimmo 2:22 AM - 16 October, 2012
+ 1 plus you never know when there's extra two beats. definitely handy if you're mixing on the fly
deepdjdanny 2:14 AM - 4 January, 2013
+100000
Marv Incredible 4:36 AM - 4 January, 2013
Please Serato, I hope you get back to paying more attention to threads like these. From the quality and depth of some of the comments, it's obvious that we're not just feature-seeking. There are a lot of talented, creative and forward-thinking users who spend a lot of time and money invested in your tools, products and brand.

We're the guys who go out and risk money buying and testing the new products and features; we report back bugs and detail what adjustments and enhancements you could make to make it even better.

I'm not knocking other software or its users, but let's face it, Serato users have traditionally been DJs who already knew how to scratch, mix and select... with decks, as opposed to getting into Djing primarily because the software/hardware made it easier or possible for them to do so. Many of us are hard-working, experienced DJs, who know what we're talking about, which gives you a distinct advantage, so how does it make sense not to listen? Especially when the competition, who obviously IS listening, is now able to offer features that Serato users have been asking for for years?

I know it's common practice for companies to spy out competitors forums, but I sometimes think the competition must be laughing at how long you take to act on these, often very good suggestions and how much leeway you give them to adopt them and get a lead on you.

Everyday that passes I find myself asking why I continue to support an increasingly out-dated and out-performed software system? I'll tell you some of the reasons. For one thing, your brand loyalty is strong and much of it well-deserved, but a lot of credit has to go to the users themselves and to Rane's own legacy of very satisified and loyal customers that you inherited when you originally decided to partner with them.

On a more practical level, it's because it can still do things better or more reliably than others, but that gap is narrowing by the day. I've realised tonight that whilst I would still only trust Serato at a live gig, for studio/produciton work, it increasingly makes a lot more sense to use something else. And for video, it's not like before, when there was only one real alternative (VDJ); there are now several other programs that either specialise in video mixing or offer it as an add-on, which again narrows the gap and compels someone like myself to consider the alternatives.

But anyway, back to the topic and the point i was originally going to make.

I recently had an experience mixing live with unfamiliar and unprepared tracks and it occured to me how much more important it would be to be able to skip BACK by a number of bars. So much so, I think it's even more important to me than being able to skip forward.

Several times when I was playing, I missed the phrase because I didn't know it was coming or what it would sound like when it did. It was worse when a major change happened after 7 bars instead of 8 or, like someone mentioned above, when there were a few unexpected extra/fewer beats.

This rarely happened to me back in the days of vinyl because I just knew the tracks. Back then, due to time, expense and my own picky tastes, the rate that I added new tracks to my library is nothing like what it is since going digital. On the other hand, this means I get to spend less time with each tune and sometimes, like my recent gig, no time at all.

Therefore, if you don't already know the track, being able to skip backwards is a much bigger advantage or at least, just as important.

Features like these aren't like sync, that allows someone who can't beatmatch to look and sound as if they can. They allow people like myself, who already know what to do, to do it in ways or at speeds we could only ever dream of before. They allow us to push boundaries and show just what heights the art and the technology can achieve when in capable hands.

In this case, my whole freestyle performance would have been much more fluid and seamless and I'd have 20 more reasons to continue supporting and endorsing Serato rather than 20 more reasons to consider going elsewhere.

Anyway...essay over.

Humbly,

M
contact@djmario.ro 12:30 PM - 4 January, 2013
well said.... thanks

Mario
CudaTMC 7:42 AM - 14 January, 2013
Very well said! Would be handy as hell for setting cues.
Daniel Ventura 8:22 AM - 14 January, 2013
word!
so true.... :-(
DJVaage 8:56 PM - 25 September, 2013
Quote:
Use tractor if you can't beatmatch. Don't ruin Serato by putting in synch.


If you check out this thread:
serato.com

You might realize that even beatmatching without the use of sync can be a real challenge in Serato atm.

Personally I don't use sync as I've learned to beatmatch manually and I don't like the sync function taking away my control. That said, it is still easier to manually beatmatch with traktor than Serato.
SLiDeR 11:23 AM - 7 June, 2014
I support this feature request. Actually I'm missing it a lot. Would be very helpful for the tracks with long intro. Now when Quantize and Beat Grid is developed pretty well this should very easy to add. On controllers like Pioneer DDJ-SX it may be assigned to Parameter left, right buttons.

Please seriously consider this feature in new Serato DJ versions!

Thank you.
DJ Asi-C 12:34 AM - 30 August, 2014
+ 1000000000000
this feature is amazing and its so like fit to our times - who need to search or do anything on the program that is not ON GRID - ON TIME - ON SYNC

please please please !
Dj Gimmo 4:14 PM - 2 November, 2014
+100000000000000000000000000

this is a must. you never know when the producer decided to add 2 extra bars.
you already have this but it only jumps by 1 bar. is there anyway to jump by 4?
DJ Asi-C 4:18 PM - 2 November, 2014
to the serato crew ... just look on the traktor beat jump feature and do the same...i think it will be the perfect dj software EVER !
blaxthos 2:35 AM - 5 November, 2014
Forward and backwards please.

Also, would be really cool to be able to align two songs to arbitrary points within both songs, and then be able to set a cuepoint in the earlier song to know exactly where to start the second song in live play...
karbokane 4:19 AM - 21 February, 2015
This is incredibly useful in traktor and when i play certain sets i have been using traktor just for this feature. Im a dedicated serato user since the 1st version all the way to sl4. Its not hard to implement and should be a standard feature this late in the dj software game. I absolutely give tracker the one up and versatility and am such a loyal user of serato it urks me to have to use traktor for features that are lacking here.
Serato, Support
Martin C 8:58 AM - 2 March, 2015
Its coming in the next version of Serato DJ guys, see here: serato.com

Just to clarify - this feature will not be added to Scratch Live.